Memoirs of the life of David Rittenhouse, LLD. F.R.S., late president of the American Philosophical Society, &c. : $b interspersed with various notices of many distinguished men : with an appendix, containing sundry philosophical and other papers, most of which have not hitherto been publishedBarton, William
History
Memoirs of the life of David Rittenhouse, LLD. F.R.S., late president of the American Philosophical Society, &c. : $b interspersed with various notices of many distinguished men : with an appendix, containing sundry philosophical and other papers, most of which have not hitherto been published
“It ought, perhaps, to be sufficient for me to produce to the public
eye the entire approbation which the President of the United States
was pleased to express of my conduct, when quitting the office of the
Director. I laid before him a full and exact state of the situation of
the Mint, and of the coinage prior to, and during my being in office.
His approbation is contained in a letter which he wrote me at the
moment of my leaving Philadelphia,—dated the 1st of Nov. 1795; from
which these words are an extract—“I cannot, at this moment of your
departure, but express my regret, that it was not accordant with your
views to remain in the Directorship of the Mint: Permit me to add
thereto, that your conduct therein gave entire satisfaction; and to
wish you a pleasant voyage, and a happy meeting with your friends in
South Carolina.”
“To those who know the President of the United States well,—who know
the caution with which he is accustomed to speak, and that he
possesses the talent of correctly estimating, as well as vigorously
overcoming, the difficulties which present themselves in every
circumstance of business,—this would rescue any character from the
unqualified censure of the members of the house of representatives.
But I will go further, and will shew the grounds on which the
President formed his judgment, so that every man may form his own
opinion.”
The Writer then proceeds with some details, respecting the condition of
the Mint on his coming into office, and at the time he left it; in the
course of which he states some difficulties, and unavoidable
obstructions to the progress of the coinage, which existed in the time
of his predecessor, and some of which could not be obviated while he
remained in the direction: and to this statement he annexes a table,
exhibiting an account of the gold and silver coinage at the Mint, from
its establishment to the close of October, 1795; at the foot of which he
remarks, that “there never was any period at which the Mint was supplied
with bullion, in a state for coinage, sufficient to keep it regularly
and fully employed for any considerable time; except,” continues the
writer, “near the close of my direction; to wit, from the 1st to the
24th of October.” Mr. De Saussure thus concludes his very satisfactory
letter on this subject:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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